Event Horizon
by T. Costa
Summary: A girl from our distant future lands in the world of Final Fantasy Eight. Things are not what they seem. NOT a self-insertion. Completed.
1. One

_A quick bit of intel:  
I dreamt this.  
No shit, I actually did. It was two separate dreams; I'm nowhere near done transcribing it. The dream stuck in my head and I decided to write it down. Some of this is my own invention, but for the most part, it's my dream, so I credit the idea to my dream-muse, whoever that may be.  
Tasha_

"Approaching event horizon."  
"Be careful, damnit." A voice bleeped through the speaker of the single-occupant spacecraft. "I know you want to get some recorded documentation on black holes, Amy, but don't go getting sucked in. Remember, we don't know what's through there."  
"I know." The girl rolled her eyes and flipped a switch. "Five miles from event horizon."  
The event horizon was the point of no return for a black hole. Amy supressed a thrill of fear that ran through her body at being _this close_, and instead flipped another switch. This one released probes which would, hopefully, record information and relay it back to the station.  
"Recieving information feed." The voice said again. "Amy, you're getting a little close there. We're reading one mile from event horizon.  
"Yeah, I'm gonna see if I can see it." Amy peered out.  
"Lieutenant Durham, you are _ordered_ to get your butt back to the station. You've done your duty."  
"Come on, I've still got a half a mile."  
"Get _back_, Lieutenant. _Now_."  
Amy felt a slight slipping, and blinked, pushing on reverse thrusters. "The event horizon has extended beyond original perameters."  
"Yeah, no shit, get back here!"  
"Reverse thrusters aren't working." Amy felt a puddle of doubt in her belly. "I seem to be stuck."  
"We can send..."  
"No." She heard her voice echo throughout the small spacecraft. "That won't be necessary; it would just be more useless waste. I'm sorry. Are the probes recording?"  
"What?" Muttering. "Yes, the damn probes are recording. Get back here, Lieutenant!"  
"Sorry." She repeated. A jerking sensation, as if she'd been yanked forward by her gut, and she felt a slipping. She was expanding, contracting, being crushed, and exploding, all at once.  
"Amy! Get back here!" A tinny voice was screaming. She flipped one last switch--one that would shut off the radio--before the blackness rushed forward to consume her. 

Amy could feel her body. She could feel everything except for her head. She couldn't see; her limbs felt like they were swollen, or wrapped in gauze.  
"There, now." A voice said to her right. She struggled to open her eyes, but couldn't.  
"You should be fine. Quite a fall you had." A pat, and then the sound of someone walking away.  
"You don't think she's a Sorceress, do you?" Another voice, tenor, and male.  
"I doubt it." A deeper tenor. "She would have gotten herself out of the ship."  
"Most likely." A baritone.  
"You'd know, wouldn't you, Seifer?" The higher tenor asked.  
A silence, and then the sound of someone retreating.  
"I wasn't being an asshole."  
"I know you weren't, Zell." The other tenor said, tiredly. "He's a little touchy now that the Sorceress War is over."  
"I'd be touchy too." Both of the men started to walk away.  
Amy tried once again to open her eyes, but it wasn't working...it really wasn't. 

Ah! A sliver of light.  
She didn't know how long she'd been on that table. She'd given up trying to keep track of time. Time only has meaning when you have a way to measure it by. She didn't.  
Now, however, that would change. She opened her eyes, amazed at how easy it was. She sat up, grimacing delicately at the current state of undress she was in.  
A hospital gown. How....quaint.  
She dangled her feet over the cool floor, knowing it would be cold but also knowing that she would have to trod apon it eventually.  
A door opened and a short Asian woman walked out. "Oh! You're awake. That's good. Squall will want to know where you came from so suddenly."  
"...Pardon me?" Amy asked, rather politely, she thought.  
"Well, your ship crashed right near the Garden." The woman went around, clicking with hospital tools that Amy had never seen before in her life--and she had a double doc, one in Nursing.  
"Garden?"  
The woman frowned and turned back to her. "Garden, dear. The school for SeeD's."  
"I've never heard of it." Amy said, flatly. A sound of something whooshing near her, and she turned to see the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen in her life staring down at her. Emerald green eyes, sandy blonde hair, and a diagonal scar running between his eyes filled her vision. She blinked, and then turned back to the asian woman.  
"Dr. Kadowaki." He said, and she recognized his baritone voice from earlier.  
"Seifer." The woman, now identified as Doctor Kadowaki, said. She stepped away from Amy. "Does Squall want to talk to her?"  
Seifer leaned against the doorjamb. "Our esteemed commander..." He drawled out, amused at something. "Would like you release the girl into my custody."  
"What for?" A sharp note.  
"Calm down, doctor, I'm to find her a set of clothes and bring her to his office after lunch." A chuckle. Green eyes focused on Amy, and she found herself gulping compulsively. "Well?"  
Amy coughed. "Um...clothes. Right?"  
"Sure thing." This Seifer gestured at her and turned, leading the way out of the infirmary. 

"I'm feeling a little exposed here." Amy said, holding the back of her gown closed as she walked down nearly-deserted hallways.  
"Don't worry, we're almost there, and everyone's in class right now." The man said, gesturing absently. He led her to a room marked "Supply."  
"What's this?" Out of habit, Amy stood at attention, even as she asked the question. Seifer grinned and drew a set of keys out of his pocket.  
"After the big war, Squall felt obligated to find me a job. I'm the supply officer here. And his general gopher." He slid the key into the unlocking mechanism and opened the door, gesturing for her to preceed him.  
"What big war?" Amy asked, sliding into the room. Seifer eyed her, then shrugged.  
"The Sorceress' War." He said, no trace of emotion in his voice. "The second one, anyway."  
Hazy memories were painting their way across her mind, but she couldn't put two and two together. No matter. Seifer was eyeing her body; almost clinically, though, so she wasn't overly worried. "I'd say...size twelve?"  
"Ten." She couldn't help the biting tone in her voice.  
"Touche." Turning from her, Seifer pushed a bunch of hanging garments aside and rummaged around. "All we have is SeeD uniforms...if you can deal with that. You can get normal clothes at Balamb..."  
"Honestly, sir, I'd rather wear a uniform. I was in the Army, research division..."  
Seifer whirled around and stared at her for a second, blinking, before extracting, unerringly, a size ten uniform done in blue and silver and handing it to her. "Whatever. Tell Squall about it." He looked around, shrugged, and made for the door. "Let me know when you're finished changing." 

Amy actually liked the....the SeeD (whatever that was) uniform. Every other girl she saw wore skirts with hers, but Seifer had given her pants. She liked pants.  
Squall was the deeper tenor voice from the infirmary. He had a scar exactly the opposite of Seifer's, crossing the other way. She stared at that for a few moments, before blinking and actually paying attention to what he said. It was obvious he wasn't overly used to speaking at any length.  
"...so we sort of found you. It would have been hard not to." He stared at her, storm-blue eyes taking in the professionally-done bun on the back of her head, the sharp SeeD uniform, the unquestionably military stance about her. "Have you been in SeeD before?"  
"No. I don't know what SeeD is." Seifer snorted from his spot by the door. Squall threw him a dirty glance before looking back at her.  
"Are you certain?"  
"Yes. I was in the Army."  
"Army?"  
"Based on the moonbase at old Terra." She inhaled. "We were working on my latest project, exploring a black hole."  
"Black hole?" Squall wasn't, apparently, familiar with the term.  
Seifer, however, was.  
"A black hole, Leonhart." The now-familiar baritone voice drawled out. "A collapsed star. Gravity so intense it literally sucks anything near it into oblivion."  
"Well...no one's really quite sure what's on the other side of a black hole..." Memory rushed back at Amy and she stepped back and blinked. "Although..."  
"Yes?" Squall asked, politely.  
"Well, I was at the event horizon in my craft...sending out probes...and I got...stuck." She frowned.  
"You were _at_ the event horizon?" Seifer was interested, now. "That's amazing."  
"Yeah, except that it had expanded." She frowned again.  
"If you two are going to speak in tongues...." Squall said, also frowning.  
"The event horizon is the point at which you don't yet risk getting sucked into a black hole." Amy supplied, absently. She frowned again. "This place is so damned _familiar_, but it's not my home at all. Where..."  
"Familiar?" Seifer looked at her, quizzically. "How?"  
"I'm not sure..." She closed her eyes. "I just...I think I need to sit down."  
She felt a little dizzy, and was surprised when strong arms caught her in her sudden descent towards the floor. They settled her into the chair. A few seconds later she opened her eyes and looked up into concerned emerald ones.  
"What was your rank?" Squall asked, businesslike.  
"I was a lieutenant." Amy shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.  
"Lieutenant." The strange word rolled off of Seifer's tongue. "Sounds familiar, I'd say."  
"Hm." Squall looked thoughtful. "Well, Lieutenant, Seifer here will show you to your room. Please let me know if you remember anything else." That obviously out of his mind, he sat down and began riffling through paperwork. Seifer shot Amy an amused look, and then held out his hand to help her out of the chair.  
Once they were out in the corridor, he leant over towards her and whispered. "Don't let that get to you. He's like that with everyone but Rinoa."  
"It's alright. I had a First Sergeant like that once." Amy whispered back. Seifer grinned.  
"I think you're gonna get along well here." 

"Well, you can, of course, opt to train as a SeeD, but if I may say so myself, you're a little old to be just entering training." The blonde woman in front of her said, adjusting her glasses. "Headmaster Cid is of the opinion that you may prove to be an asset to Garden, should you decide to stay here."  
"Well..." Amy began, thoughtfully. "Can't you just..test me?"  
Instructor Trepe, for that was her name, stared at her. "Excuse me?"  
"I've got military training. That much is obvious to everyone. Why don't you test me? See if there's any holes in my education for SeeD?" She blinked. "It makes sense. Why get trained in the same stuff over?"  
"It _does_ make sense." Seifer said.  
"Shut up, Mr. Almasy." Instructor Trepe said, bringing her hand to her forehead. "It is a good idea, however, and I will ask Headmaster Cid."  
The former Sorceress' Knight winked at Amy before leading her out of the room. "I'm willing to bet that they'll test you."  
She smiled. Having been informed of the recent history of this universe, she'd come to her own private conclusions about where she was. The fact that Seifer had, until recently, been under the control of a deranged sorceress from the future didn't bother her. He was nice to her, and she reciprocated.  
He was probably the only person she'd consider a friend in this place. She'd met a few people--Squall's girlfriend, Rinoa (whom she wasn't overly fond of...a little too whiny for her tastes), Zell (the higher tenor voice from her unconsciousness), Selphie, Irvine. Selphie had automatically invited her to join some committee, to which she respectfully declined. Zell hyperly shook her hand, and Irvine had given her a once-over before getting hit by Selphie. There was also a dark-haired boy named Nida, whom she avoided wherever she could. The Garden pilot had developed a crush on her in the two weeks she'd been at Garden.  
"Obviously, you're going to need instruction in magic...since you don't seem to have that there." Seifer said, conversationally. She nodded, keeping in step with him automatically. His white trench coat contrasted perfectly with the blue of her trousers, which amused her.  
"Of course." She said.  
"What weapons do you use?" Seifer asked.  
"Well...all soldiers are taught to use handweapons like guns and rifles." She was taken aback by the question. "I have informal training in bladework, but I'd be a little rusty."  
"Hm. Wonder how you'd do with a gunblade?" Seifer mused to himself. They passed two people in the hall, a silver-haired woman and a dark-complected boy. "Yo, Fuj, Raj, what's up?"  
"NOTHING." The woman said.  
"Ya, man, it's really boring now. Like, the sorceress scared the kids into behaving and stuff, ya know?" The boy said.  
Seifer snorted. "Yeah, well, I'd help, only I'm not allowed on the Disciplinary Committee now that I'm not a student anymore." He rolled his eyes. "The good old days it ain't."  
"You got that right, man." The two nodded at each other and then the groups parted.  
"Old friends." Seifer said, at her inquisitory look.  
She nodded.  
"Anyway, what I was saying..." 

"How do you _use_ this thing?" It wasn't heavy; more like cumbersome.  
"It's a gunblade, woman." Seifer rolled his eyes. "A sword and gun, together."  
"Who's bright idea was that?"  
"I dunno. Just take a hit at me."  
Amy sighed, and then hefted the weapon by it's handle. It lifted easily from the ground, and she swung an experimental arc with it. She personally found it to be a clunky weapon, but it was obviously well crafted. Seifer told her it was a revolver, differing from his Hyperion model by a few major points, but good for basic fighting.  
She felt for balance, and then closed her eyes...and the distance between Seifer and herself.  
When she opened them, she also swung her right arm--the one holding the gunblade--towards him. She felt the crash of metal as he retaliated, and backed off. She knew now how this weapon would act in battle, and settled into learning how _Seifer_ would act in battle.  
He was very skilled, she knew this. He had years of practice with a weapon she had just picked up. However, she did have years of practice with weaponry in general, and prided herself on being adaptable. They fought for a little under an hour, and while she wasn't able to get a mark on him, she could say with assurance that he hadn't gotten in once, either.  
"You sure they don't have gunblades there?" Seifer asked, mopping his brow. "You're pretty good."  
She shrugged. "It's not too different from either of my personal choices of weapon."  
"Well, Cid'll want you in SeeD. He likes gunblade specialists; you're almost as good as I am, so you might as well choose that as your weapon." He gave her a sidelong look. "Unless you wanna be like cowboy geek and just be a sharpshooter."  
"No, thank you." Amy wrinkled her nose. "I much prefer bladework."  
A blur of yellow, and suddenly Selphie was standing in front of them. Amy stopped suddenly, still unused to the hyper younger girl's methods of appearance.  
"Ew, you two are all sweaty and gross." She was saying. "Anyway, Squall says that you two have to come up to his office, he's got something to tell Amy, and that Seifer needs to be there now." She cocked her head. "Any idea?"  
"Not really." Seifer said, closing his hand around Amy's upper arm and dragging her away from Selphie. "We'll go up there now, thanks, Selphie."  
He dropped her arm as soon as they rounded a corner. "I can't stand that girl, sorry."  
"It's alright." Amy replied, rubbing her arm ruefully. "Squall's office?"  
"Sure. Then lunch." Seifer made a face at her and patted his stomach. "Garden is full of useful, high-tech gagets, but they can't find something to stop hunger."  
"The human stomach is very primative." Amy said, dredging up a quote from a book read long-ago. "It likes to be filled at regular intervals."  
"Very true." Seifer said. He shouldered his Hyperion and grinned at her. She did the same and followed him to Squall's office. 

"We junction GF's by using rings." Quistis explained. "The ring contains the spirit of the GF. Go ahead, put it on. It's Shiva."  
Amy eyed Quistis warily, but did so. And dropped the ring as soon as she touched it.  
"Not compatable at all." Quistis clucked her tongue. "Well, then, try Ifrit."  
Not as bad, this time; she actually managed to get the ring on. But she wasn't comfortable.  
"Hm. Well, let's see..." Quistis looked at the myriad of rings that were surrounding her. Then she eyed Amy for a second and her expression became thoughtful. "I wonder..." She chose a ring and shoved it at Amy. "Put it on."  
She did. And smiled, triumphantly. "I like this one. It's comfortable."  
"Very strange." She smiled. "Well, it seems that you're most compatable with Bahamut. Dragon-queen indeed." Quistis smiled impishly for a second, belying her serious nature. "I don't think anyone's ever been completely compatable with Bahamut since before para-magic was developed."  
"I guess there's a first time for everything." Amy said, almost in awe of herself. Bahamut; ruler of the dragons. He was legend even in her own world. Bahamut, Tiamat, Dragon-King (or queen, depending on the legend you chose to believe). And she was compatable with him?  
She smiled.  
"So now that you've been instructed in the art of magic-use..." Squall began, impatiently.  
"Ah, yes. Seifer says you've chosen to take up the gunblade?" Quistis asked.  
Amy nodded.  
"He says you're good." Squall said.  
"Which is a compliment, coming from him. Quite a compliment." Quistis said.  
"Yeah." Squall said. He brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Anyway, he's going to be instructing you in the gunblade, and Quistis here in magic." He scowled. "You're competant in everything else."  
Why she got the feeling that that annoyed him, she didn't know. But that feeling disappeared as a rare smile lit his face.  
"We finally found something to occupy Seifer with." 


	2. Two

Seifer watched his student. She was sparring with a fourth-year SeeD cadet, and winning.  
He smiled, almost proud. He'd like to take credit for her success with the gunblade; hell, a few months ago he wouldn't have thought twice about it. But she had a natural talent that had nothing to do with his tutilage, and everyone knew it. What would the point be in trying to take her bit of time in the spotlight?  
Besides, he rather liked watching her respond to the praises of everyone around them. It was amusing to see her squirm. She hated it, he knew.  
It had only been a month, and she was amost surpassing him. He was keeping one step ahead of her. When they fought, it was as equals.  
They adjourned after Amy accidentally cut the finger off of the student. She apologized profusely, almost crying. The student eyed her contemptuously and held the finger up to the wound and poured a hi-potion on it. As if by magic, the skin resealed the limb to the hand, and he picked up his gunblade and left the training center.  
"I keep forgetting." Amy said, apologetically. "I had a doctorate in nursing, and we didn't have anything that useful."  
"It _is_ useful." Seifer replied, jerking his head towards the dormitories. "Go get cleaned up and we'll have dinner in the cafeteria."  
"Meet you in an hour." She said, waving and boosting her weapon to her shoulder. Seifer eyed her for a while, and then turned towards his own room. 

"Wow, man, you've been really relaxed." Zell said, chipperly. Seifer sighed, resisting the urge to give the Chicken-wuss a slap upside his damn head and instead continuing on his straight path to his room, hoping his noncommunicative mood would clue the idiot in. No such luck, he chattered all the way to Seifer's room.  
"Oh yeah, the reason I was supposed to find you is that Squall and Rinoa want to talk to you about something, like right now." Zell said, looking concerned when Seifer put his hand on his door.  
Seifer sighed. "I'm covered in stuff from the training center. Let me get cleaned up. Tell them I'll be there in...well, give me twenty minutes."  
"Sure thing!" Zell said, skipping off.  
He let himself into his room, sighing tiredly. Zell always had that affect on him. It was like Chicken-wuss sucked the energy out of a room by his very presence. 

Twenty minutes later, after a quick shower and an even quicker change of clothing (he opted for a normal black T-shirt and black pants today...why, he didn't know, really) he stood outside of Squall's office and rapped quickly. He hated meetings that involved Rinoa; the fact that she'd chosen Squall over him (even if it had sorta been his fault) still rankled in the back of his mind. Generally he covered it up with his usual charming personality (read: he was an asshole) but today he was in a rather good mood. Just like his change of clothing, he wasn't sure why, but he hoped it wouldn't go away by the end of this little meeting.  
Not even five seconds into it, he realized it wouldn't. Squall and Rinoa wanted to talk about his current favorite subject: Amy, and how well she was doing on the gunblade.  
"You know, Seifer, I think this is doing you good." Rinoa said, smiling. Seifer frowned.  
"What?"  
"She means you don't have a rod shoved up your ass." Squall said, relaxing only as he did when around Rinoa.  
"I wouldn't talk if I were you." Seifer retorted.  
Rinoa giggled. Squall rolled his eyes and continued the debriefing.  
Half an hour later, Squall excused him, and he walked towards the cafeteria, ignoring the strange looks people were giving him. Black wasn't his color, really.  
He stood at the door to the cafeteria, tapping his foot impatiently. Amy showed up after a few minute's tense waiting, during which he'd been the object of quite a few double-takes.  
"Wow." Amy said, performing one of those double-takes. "Any particular reason for the change in dress?"  
Seifer sighed. "You and everyone else is asking. I'm washing my other stuff." It was the truth, but not all of it. "Come on, let's see if there's anything better than hot dogs today." 

"She's pretty much up to speed now, ma'am." Seifer said, stiffly. Cid and Edea Kramer were included in this briefing. Edea and Seifer hadn't had any contact in the year that had passed since the second Sorceress' War. Seifer only wished the distance could have continued. Vivid memories of his stint as her Knight were surfacing, only to be pushed back by himself, firmly.  
"Well, then, I suppose there's nothing holding us back." Edea mused. Her long black hair, free now from accoutrements and decoration, hung almost down to the floor from her seated position. Her husband nodded.  
"There are a few students who are at a level where they need to pass a field exam." Cid said. He turned to Quistis. "Do we have any assignments coming up?"  
She looked at the call board. "A few, sir. There's the riots in Esthar...started about two hours ago, we're dispatching in three. President Loire has requested six teams of SeeD for different areas of the city."  
Squall squirmed at Laguna's name, and found himself pinned by Seifer's stare. No one but Rinoa knew about the conversation Squall had had with Laguna Loire after he'd beaten Ultimecia; no one in this room other than perhaps the Kramer's knew that Laguna Loire was his father.  
He shook his head and mouthed "Later." Seifer shrugged, and turned back to his polite attention of Quistis.  
"That's probably a good start." Edea said. "Anything else?"  
"The mayor of Fisherman's Horizon has requested two teams to guard the bridges on the outskirts of the city." Quistis said. "Galbadian soldiers and Esthar soldiers have been spotted on either side of the bridge and he doesn't want the town to become a battlefield."  
"Well, there's something we can do about that without dispatching SeeD." Edea said, resolutely. She was still, technically, the ruler of Galbadia; Sorceress powers or no, she'd never resigned the seat. "I'll have a chat with President Loire later."  
"Well, then, it'll have to be Esthar." Quistis said.  
"We'll post a list of SeeD candidates in an hour." Squall said, standing up. That meant that the meeting was dismissed. Seifer walked out of the room stiffly.  
"Seifer." His name was called as soon as he exited the room, and he turned to see Edea standing before him.  
"Ma'am." He replied, automatically.  
A sad smile graced her beautiful face. She touched him lightly on the shoulder. "I find that it is best to forget the past, Seifer." Another sad smile. "For it is the past and cannot be changed. Instead, focus on the future, and what it may hold." She smiled once again, this time not so sad. "Perhaps, this Amy girl and what her future may hold."  
With that word of advice, Edea turned and walked back into the room. She and Cid would be instrumental in deciding which students would take the field exam.  
Seifer frowned, and then a small smile appeared on his face. Edea was right, he knew, and the fact that he had her blessing to forget about his stint as her Knight....  
Well, he knew what freedom felt like now. 

"Seifer!" A different female's voice called to him. He turned and smiled, seeing Amy running towards him.  
"What?"  
"The lists for the field exam were just published!" Amy said, grinning, still heading in his direction.  
"I know. Do you think you're ready? You better not make me look like an idiot." He said, shaking his finger in mock-threat.  
"No, I'm not worried about that." Amy said, pushing his finger out of her way. "You're posted to go with us."  
Seifer froze. "What?"  
"Come on, look." Amy led him to the nearest wall-display and punched up the list. There, at the top, blinked his name. "S. Almasy."  
He felt a pounding in his chest, a sudden dryness in his throat. "Excuse me." He said, walking away from her. 

"Just what the hell are you trying to pull, Leonhart?" Seifer said, barging into the room without so much as a knock. Selphie stood behind him, helplessly, and Squall knew that she'd tried to restrain Seifer and hadn't been able to do so.  
"I take it that you're referring to the field test."  
"Damn right I'm referring to the damned field test!" Seifer planted a hand on either side of the desk and glared at Squall. "Just tell me what the fuck is going on behind my back."  
"Language, Mr. Almasy." Edea's voice said, from the side of the room. Seifer looked, and noticed that both of the Kramer's were still in attendance. He colored briefly, but didn't move.  
"Actually, Seifer, you'll have to talk to Cid about that." Squall said, gesturing. "He was the one who wanted you on the list."  
Cid, however, was not the one who answered. It was Edea.  
"Seifer, we decided a long time ago that once you were able to trust yourself, we would be able to do the same." She smiled enigmatically. "We believe that time has come."  
"I'm not a student at this Garden anymore." He said, mechanically.  
"This is true." Squall replied. "However, you passed the same requisite classes."  
"And it says nowhere in the rule book that someone has to be an active student to pass a field exam." Cid explained. "Just that they have to have passed the requisite courses."  
"I see." Seifer removed his hands from Squall's desk and stalked out.  
"That went well." Squall said.  
"Indeed." Edea replied, softly. 

"How did it go?" Amy was waiting for him by the door to Squall's office.  
"I'm to report for the field exam. Same as you are." He replied. "We'd best get something to eat."  
"Done and done." Amy held out two brown paper sacks. "I got them at the cafeteria, it's high-protien and loaded with carbs, good for stimulation in battle."  
He smiled. "Come on, let's go back to my room and eat them."  
He realized that he'd never brought her to his room as he punched in his code, but pushed that thought away as the door slid open. His eyes widened, however, when he saw what was laying on his bed.  
A SeeD uniform. The kind all students wore on the field exam.  
"Yeah, I got one too." Amy said, wrinkling her nose. "It has a skirt."  
Seifer reached out and touched the fabric, lightly. "I think I'll wear it this time." He laughed. "I kept getting points deducted because I wouldn't wear the uniform."  
She smirked. "It won't look right on you."  
"I know." He smiled. 

An hour and a half later, he joined the other thirty students, in uniform, with Amy, at the front hall. Quistis Trepe was standing there with a list in her hand.  
He endured the odd looks. Fujin and Raijin were also in uniform, waiting patiently for their squad assignments. All three of them were assigned to the same squad, under Amy's command.  
Amy blinked. "I'm squad leader?"  
"Yes." Quistis replied. "Make sure you do a good job. It'll make Seifer look bad if you don't."  
"Yes, ma'am." 

"This is boring." Amy said, leading the four of them on their circuit.  
"BORING." Fujin agreed.  
They walked around the area they'd been entrusted to secure. All they'd done was battle looters, drawing spells off of them and then casting stop, so that Amy could wrap plastic handcuffs around their wrists. It took maybe an hour. Now they were on standbye.  
Occasionally they'd come into contact with a monster, remnants of the Lunar Cry, which they would draw spells off of and distract until Seifer or Amy could finish them off. It was so boring that Seifer wanted to cry.  
Amy sighed and sat down on a sidewalk, her head in her hands. Seifer did likewise, lighting a cigarette and watching the area below them. It wasn't their area to secure, and he'd made the mistake of wandering off too many times to bother with it this time.  
A call came in on Amy's radio. "Squad A, proceed to base. Esthar is secured."  
"About damn time." Amy said, swearing for the first time in her and Seifer's accquaintance. "Seifer, be sure to finish that before we get to base." She pointed to his cigarette.  
He nodded, and the two of them stood up. Fujin and Raijin followed them back to base. 

"She said it was boring." Xu told Squall, later that day, while the teams were eating a late night dinner in the cafeteria. "The other three agreed."  
"They secured a rather large area and banded every criminal they came across." Squall replied, startled.  
Xu nodded. "They also battled a behemoth, two malbaros, and a dozen chimeras."  
Squall nodded. "Thank you, Xu, I will report this to Cid and Edea." 


	3. Three

"All cadets who participated in yesterday's SeeD field exam, please report to the second floor upstairs hallway." Squall's voice rang in over the loudsystem, mechanically. Seifer and Amy stopped sparring in the training center as one and ran for the main hall.  
"Do you think we made it?" Amy asked, quietly, as they jogged towards the elevator, now overcrowded with students.  
"Hyne, I hope so." Seifer muttered, mostly to himself. They squeezed themselves into the lift and Amy, never having been a religious person before, sent a small prayer of hope. Not for her; for Seifer. 

Xu kept her face impassive as the cadets streamed into the upstairs hallway. Each wore a carefully controlled look of hope; all of them except for Seifer, Fujin, Raijin, and Amy. The only four who had passed didn't seem to care.  
"Seifer Almasy; Amy Durham; Fujin; Raijin." Xu called out. They stepped forward. "Please follow me."  
They did. The cadets who hadn't made it started applauding. Seifer closed his eyes briefly, and felt Amy catch his hand and give it a quick squeeze. He glanced at her, and saw a distinct glint in her almond-shape eyes. A smile? Perhaps.  
They were brought up to Cid Kramer's office, where he gave them their official paperwork and a word of congratulations apiece.  
Amy stood at attention, recieving her report and new rank insignia with a small hint of pride; not too much, as she'd been admonished in basic training, but enough to understand the great honor that had been bestowed upon her. "Congratulations. I knew you'd make it." Cid whispered, smiling kindly at her. She saluted him.  
Seifer accepted his papers with a shaking hand, internally swearing at himself for showing even the slightest bit of nervousness. Cid's lips twitched; he wanted to smile, but he wouldn't. "Congratulations, Mr. Almasy." He said. "Finally."  
"Thank you, sir." Seifer said, saluting.  
"There is a congratulatory party this evening, held by older SeeD's, for the new SeeD's." Cid informed them. "It starts at 1900 hours; be in your dress uniforms for the event. Said uniforms will be delivered to your new quarters, located in the officer's wing. Tapping in your ID code into any viewscreen will show you your new quarters assignments. If you packed your belongings as instructed beforehand, they should already be in your quarters." Cid dismissed them.  
"Oh my God, Seifer, we made it!" Amy said, jumping a bit as they descended to the second floor. "We made it!"  
"FINALLY." Fujin said.  
"Yeah, man, like, I've been waitin' for them to tell me I could take the exam, ya know?" Raijin said. He and Fujin made off for the nearest viewscreen.  
Seifer read through his report. SeeD rank 12. His eyes widened. "Hey, lemme see your report." He requested. Amy handed the papers over. Rank 12 as well.  
"We did really good." He said. "Squall passed at rank five."  
She nodded acceptance of that fact, and then headed towards the viewscreen that Fujin and Raijin had recently abandoned. "Let's look up our new assignments."

Their quarters were actually right near each other's; SeeD candidates rarely passed the field exam before the age of sixteen, and that was the legal age of adulthood. Therefore, any sexual activity that occured inside the SeeD quarters was ignored. SeeD's were adults.  
"Room 1138." Amy said, pointing to hers. "Room 1139." She pointed to his, across the hall."  
"Let's check them out." Seifer said, palming his door open. Amy stepped in with him.  
The rooms were almost luxurious; a bathroom the occupant had to share with no one else, with a bathtub instead of just a normal showerstall. A kitchenette with a smallish cupboard and refridgerator, a dishsink, a microwave, a two-cup coffee maker, a tiny electrical stove, and a single cup, plate, knife, fork, spoon, and coffee cup. There was a living room area that had a passageway to the bedroom area; no door, but Seifer figured he could get a door in there somehow. The bedrooms featured walk-in closets and queen sized beds.  
"Wow, I should have obeyed orders earlier." Seifer said, ogling his new accomodations.  
"Pretty nice." Amy said, taking stock. "Hey, we got free time until 1800, then we gotta be back to get ready for the party."  
"Yeah." Seifer ran his hand over his face. He was a SeeD. Finally. For real.  
"Let's go to Balamb." Amy said, tugging on the sleeve of his coat. "We can stock up on stuff for our kitchens."  
Seifer looked at her, and then laughed. "Amy, I can't cook."  
"I can. I'll teach you. Come on, I've never been to Balamb, and we get to leave campus as SeeD's."  
Seifer laughed and agreed. They parted for a quick wash and met up in the hall, Seifer wearing his normal garb and Amy a pair of black uniform cargo pants and a black camisol undershirt, with uniform jump boots.  
"I'll get new ones in Balamb." She said, grinning as he looked at her attire.  
Seifer had put in a request for a car loan from the Garden pool; he got clearance as soon as Squall noticed that the only passenger would be Amy. The ride to Balamb took a bit longer than it should have. Seifer was trying to teach Amy how to drive.  
"These things don't make _any_ sense." Amy complained. "Cars make sense where I come from. They have an engine, a transmission, and a motor."  
"These things have an engine and a transmission, too." Seifer said. "Just push the stick in the direction you wanna go while pressing the pedal down."  
"Where I come from we use wheels." Amy said, tartly, before continuing. She was fairly adept by the time they got to Balamb and parked.  
"Clothes first." Amy said, and Seifer groaned. "Don't worry, I'm probably the easiest girl to shop with in existence."  
As she walked in front of him, Seifer noticed that she had a tattoo. He didn't personally know anyone who had a tattoo other than Zell, and his was moronic.  
Amy's, however, had a flag, in alternating bands of white and red, with a small square of blue in the upper lefthand corner of it. There seemed to be white specks, stars perhaps, in that blue square. There was a bird flying in front of it, carrying a snake, and scrolls surrounding the picture. On the top it said "This we'll defend-USAC" and underneath it said "Don't tread on me." It was on her right shoulderblade.  
"I didn't know you had a tattoo." Seifer said. Amy stopped and turned around.  
"I got it when I graduated from boot camp." She said, walking backwards and talking to him. He hadn't seen her so animated. Ever.  
"What's it mean?"  
"Where I come from, there was a country called the United States of America. we just celebrated America's four hundredth birthday the year I left." She smiled. "We fought a country that controlled us four hundred years ago for freedom. That's the flag of my country. Our mascot was the eagle, a symbol of freedom and strength. A flag that was flown during the Revolutionary War showed a rattlesnake with a banner beneath it that said 'Don't tread on me.'" She smiled enigmatically and turned around.  
"What about the top part?" Seifer asked, interested despite himself.  
"It's the motto of the United States Army Corps." Amy said. "We defend. To the death."  
Seifer blinked. To the death. What else was she willing to defend, to the death?  
Well, he'd make sure that never happened. 

Shopping with Amy was boring. She didn't ask the usual questions Seifer had experienced ("Does this make my butt look big?" "What about this color?"). She knew what looked good on her and picked it out, done with her shopping in about five minutes.  
She changed while Seifer waited outside, carrying about ten different bags of clothing. She'd only picked out three pairs of shoes; one set of dress shoes for the dance tonight (girl SeeD's had to wear a dress to the party), a pair of running shoes, and a pair of regular tennis shoes. The rest was all clothes. Clothes, clothes, clothes.  
When she stepped into the sunlight, Seifer did a double-take. She was wearing a skintight short-sleeved black Tshirt with a picture of Bahamut wound around it, and a pair of skintight olive green cargo pants that flared out at the bottom. A bondage belt was laced through the top of the pants, and she wore her jump boots.  
Not only that, but her shiny, black hair, normally kept in a tight, businesslike bun, was loose, flowing down until it reached midback. Some of it curled down her shoulders loosely.  
"Wow." He said. He'd never seen her in anything skintight; it was the first thing that popped into his head.  
"Gee, thanks." Amy rolled her eyes and looked up at him. Seifer realized, for the first time, that Amy was really quite short. At least a foot shorter than him. The SeeD uniform made her look a lot taller, and made her tan skin seem a lot paler. She actually had Dr. Kadowacki's coloring, now that he thought about it.  
Amy was half Japanese; her father had met her mother while stationed in Japan. Her mother's family had been one of the last true Japanese families, one of the few pure ones left. She took after her mother, but she had her father's steel blue eyes.  
"Anyway..." Amy said, uncomfortable now with the way that Seifer was looking at her. "Let's get to that store. Food."  
"Right, food." Seifer shook himself out of his daze. Since when had his friend become a _girl_? 

"Five foot nothing." Amy said, sighing as they ate a late lunch. "I got my mom's height. My dad's taller than you are."  
"They must have made an odd couple." Seifer said, finishing his burger.  
"They were. But they loved each other." Amy smiled, remeniscently. "They both died a few years ago."  
Seifer felt something cramp up in him. Was that sympathy?  
"That sucks." He replied, flatly.  
"It did. My sister was with them. I was the only one that stayed home that day. I was sick." She sighed. "By then I was seventeen, and I finished high school and enlisted in the Army. They figured that I had what it took to go into space, so they put me through the officer's program, and I picked up a couple of doctorates while I was at it."  
"How old are you?"  
"Twenty." She grinned. "Japanese kids are known for overachievement. I got my doctorates in two years. It normally takes six or more. I took eight classes a day, plus my officer's training. Everyone hated me."  
"Hyne, when did you get any free time?"  
"I didn't. I kept telling myself that it would be worth it, that I'd have free time once I finished." She frowned. "I really didn't; I was a workoholic. I was always doing something related to my research."  
"And now you're here."  
"Yeah." Amy was still frowning. She took a sip of soda through her straw and looked at her chrono, strapped to her wrist. "Hey, we should get back, we still have to unload the stuff we bought."  
"Right." Seifer said, standing up. "Let's jet." 

_Parties._  
Squall adjusted his dress uniform collar, for about the ninetieth time that night. Rinoa scolded him.  
"No one's going to ever wear their uniforms if they know their commander doesn't like wearing them."  
Squall frowned. "Everyone knows I don't like wearing them anyway. I never do unless I'm required to."  
_I hate parties._  
"You know, you were wearing that same uniform the day we first met." Rinoa said, grinning. Squall smiled.  
"You made me dance."  
"I taught you how to dance, you mean." Rinoa poked him in the side.  
"You're wearing the same dress."  
"I was wondering when you'd notice that." Rinoa replied. She pointed. "Look."  
Amy had just walked in. She was wearing a light blue dress that went down to the floor. It was split from the waist, but had white fabric sewn in underneath. It was strapless.  
"Wow." Squall said. Rinoa laughed.  
"That's probably what everyone else is saying. She looks really nervous."  
"Yeah." _I know the feeling._  
"Seifer isn't here yet."  
"I noticed."  
"Think he'll show?"  
Squall snorted. "And miss a chance to show off?"  
Rinoa frowned. "I don't know, he doesn't act like that anymore."  
Squall's forehead wrinkled. "That's true."  
"I think Amy's calming him down."  
Squall snorted again. "What do you think he'll do when he notices she's female?"  
"Fall in love?" Rinoa whispered. Then a song came on. "Oooh, Squall, dance with me, will you?"  
Squall sighed, but allowed himself to be led out to the dance floor. He completely missed Seifer's quiet entrance. 

"Hey."  
Amy whirled around. "Oh, hi. Jesus, you scared me."  
Seifer grinned. "Look at our esteemed commander now." He pointed. "He's Rinoa's lapdog."  
Amy smirked, but didn't say anything.  
"You look nice." Seifer offered.  
"Thanks. You look really uncomfortable."  
"I am." Seifer grimaced. "These things are made to look good. Definitely not for comfort."  
"I'm so glad I don't have to wear one right now."  
"You'll have to eventually." Seifer admonished her.  
"But not right now. Hey, this thing is probably just as uncomfortable, so we can be uncomfortable together. Misery loves company."  
Seifer nodded. Just then Nida walked over.  
"Wow, Amy, you look beautiful." He said, mooning over her as he always did. Amy stifled a sigh.  
"Thank you, Nida." She said, graciously.  
Nida looked at Seifer, a little nervous. "Hey, wanna dance?" He asked Amy.  
Amy bit her lip, then nodded. "I'll be back." She told Seifer. He watched as Nida and Amy left and started dancing. Amy was really good, which didn't surprise him; a lot of the coordination and muscles needed for dancing were also used in bladework.  
He leaned up against the wall, sighing. He felt uncomfortable; no one here really got along with him, and vice versa. Except for Amy.  
She walked back over. "He can't dance." She wrinkled her nose.  
Seifer laughed, but he couldn't figure out just why he was so glad that Nida couldn't dance. 

"Aren't they going to do anything other than stand there and watch everyone?" Rinoa asked Squall. The party was almost over.  
"Probably not." Squall replied.  
"You'd think they were attached at the hip. They don't ever leave each other's company."  
Squall considered this. "Amy doesn't really have any other friends."  
Rinoa nodded, slowly. "And everyone hates Seifer."  
"They're nervous around him." Squall corrected her.  
"I guess." Rinoa sighed. "I want them to get together. It'd be so cute!"  
"You're such a cornball." Squall said. "Happy endings never happen."  
"It happened with us, didn't it?" Rinoa asked.  
"Maybe." Squall temporized.  
"Hello." A voice said from behind them. They both looked over their shoulders. Edea Kramer stood with her hands clasped loosely in front of them.  
"Oh!" Rinoa had never exactly been comfortable with the woman she'd gotten her sorceress powers from.  
"They are quite cute, aren't they?" Edea said, gesturing towards Seifer and Amy.  
"Yep." Rinoa said. Squall grunted.  
"If I still had my powers, I'd give them a little push in that direction." Edea said, looking significantly down towards Rinoa. "It'd help Seifer, I think." She excused herself.  
_Was Edea giving me a hint?_ Rinoa thought. 

Seifer felt relaxed.  
Which was a big clue-in, to him. He rarely felt entirely relaxed, like he did now. He recognized this; this was the manipulation of a Sorceress.  
_Oh Hyne._ He thought, wanting to say something. He opened his mouth...  
"Would you like to dance?" He found himself saying. _What..the FUCK?_ His head turned towards the opposite end of the room, and he saw Rinoa wiggle her fingers at him, playfully.  
_Shit._  
"Uh...sure." Amy said. He had the pleasure of seeing her blush for the first time in their acquaintence.  
He felt the mind control slipping. He couldn't get out of it now; Amy was already walking towards the dance floor.  
He followed her and actually found that it was enjoyable dancing with Amy; they were pressed up against each other and swaying in time to the music, a thumping beat that really shouldn't have been played at a formal dinner. He wondered vaguely if that was Rinoa's doing too, but he doubted it.  
The song stopped, and he found himself looking into Amy's eyes. Fireworks flashed overhead, ignored.  
Amy was looking at him as well; the emerald-green eyes that had first caught her attention flashing down at her, looking confused and hopeful at the same time.  
He leaned down and she closed her eyes, feeling his lips touching hers. Overhead, the grand finale began, ignored. 


	4. Four

Somehow, Amy got the idea that she shouldn't be where she was. It was an odd thought, considering she'd just woken up.  
She opened her eyes. _Shit._ She was in Seifer's room. Vague memories flooded her mind. They were clothed; that much she had to be thankful for. They hadn't done anything, really, that she could recall.  
She was wearing a pair of his sweats and a workout shirt. He was wearing pretty much the same thing. They were cuddled together.  
She blinked, then quietly got out of bed and shed his clothing, struggling back into hers. She made herself presentable, and with a final glance over her shoulder at his sleeping form, palmed the door open and crossed the empty hallway towards her quarters. 

Seifer awoke feeling warm. His feeling of vague happiness disappeared when he realized that Amy wasn't in the room.  
He frowned. He remembered everything; he'd flat-out refused to do anything with her, other than some kissing. He had a fear, a fear that Rinoa was controlling either of them.  
He sighed slightly. _Too good to be true, I suppose._ Standing, he got a shower and dressed, contemplating walking to the cafeteria to get something to eat. His fridge and cupboards were full of food, but he hadn't the faintest idea of how to cook it.  
A ding at the door. He crossed the room and palmed it open, surprised to see Amy standing there. She looked like she'd done much the same thing he had; a shower and a change of clothing.  
She walked in without saying anything. Instead, she opened his cupboards and removed cooking utensils and food. He stared, slack-jawed, as she prepared something.  
"You can't cook, right?" She smiled; a hint of her former smile. Seifer felt something hard in the middle of his chest.  
"Nope." He replied.  
"Well, here you go." She caught his eyes, briefly.  
"Look...Amy..." Seifer scratched the back of his head, uncertain of how to continue.  
Amy saved him the effort, and walked out of the room before another word could be spoken. 

They'd gone almost a whole day without managing to see each other, which was quite an achievement, considering the fact that they lived directly across the hall from each other.  
Seifer was in the training center, angrily working his way through countless Grats and a few T-Rexaurs. He didn't know what was wrong with him; the fact that Amy seemed to be mad at him both confused him and pissed him off. He just didn't get women.  
_I thought she was different._ He thought, giving the Grat a final swipe with Hyperion.  
"Whoa, man, what's up?" Zell was walking towards Seifer. His girlfriend from the Library, Nona, wasn't too far behind him. She carried in her hands a set of throwing stars, so he figured they were here for training.  
"Nothing." Seifer said shortly. He holstered his gunblade and started for the door.  
"Dude, don't you normally practice with Amy?"  
"Yeah, well, normal doesn't seem to cover her." He said, stomping towards the door.  
Zell shot Nona a look. She smiled reassuringly and ran after Seifer. 

"Seifer!" Seifer stopped, thoroughly irritated.  
"Yes?" He inquired, in a voice he hoped would discourage questions. No such luck. She ran in front of him.  
"Can I ask a question?"  
He snorted. "I can't stop you."  
She eyed him. "Will you answer?"  
_Sly._ "Maybe."  
"Why are you mad at Amy?"  
Seifer felt a self-riteous anger building up in him. "Why am I mad at Amy?"  
"Yeah."  
"Maybe because when I thought I'd finally found a normal girl, she had to go and be like the rest of you." He snapped.  
Nona blinked as he started to storm off.  
"Did you _tell_ her that?"  
Seifer didn't dignify that with a response. 

"So you see, sir, Ultimecia's meddling with time opened a doorway, via a black hole, from this time period into mine." Amy said. "This is actually very far in the future for my world."  
"So finding your way back to the black hole would bring you back to your present?" Squall asked.  
"There's no way to know for sure, sir." Amy replied. She kept her private assumptions, that this world was indeed the future, and that the future had somehow leaked it's way into the minds of creators of an ancient video game, secret.  
"What do you want to do?" Cid Kramer didn't look pleased; they'd just spent about four months training her to become a SeeD.  
"I'd like permission, sir, to work on the craft that I was found in."  
Cid sighed heavily. "I don't suppose there's anything I can really do about it."  
"Thank you, sir." She included Squall in her glance, and then walked out of the room.  
"I take it things didn't turn out right with Seifer." Edea stated, quietly. She sighed.  
"I guess not." Squall replied. 

Amy woke up in her room. That was odd; her last waking memory was of falling asleep beside her busted spacecraft, fiddling with a harmonic tuning device for the drives.  
She vaguely, when she thought about it hard, remembered someone coming in and carrying her to her room; when she thought even harder, she recalled sandy blonde hair and emerald green eyes.  
She sighed, ignoring the ache in her chest and standing up. _Back to work._

Seifer sighed early the next day. Three days without seeing her was too much for him; he had to apologize for whatever the hell it was he'd done and go back to the way things had been before.  
He pushed the buzzer to alert the her that someone was outside of her door; instead, the door slid open, revealing a blank room. None of her things were there; the uniforms she'd worn were gone, her clothes were not in the closet, and her gunblade case was missing.  
He heard the sound of an aircraft launching from outside, and felt his heart beating in his throat. "Oh Hyne."  
He ran for the training field; where over two years ago he'd earned himself a scar dueling with Squall. A small group stood, watching the small aircraft take to the sky.  
_Oh....oh Hyne, no...please..._ Seifer ran to them. "Where is she?" He asked, panting.  
"She left." Squall said.  
"Where did she _go_?" He demanded, picking Squall up by his jacket collar and shaking him angrily. Squall's eyes flashed.  
Startled with his loss of control, Seifer dropped the Garden Commander and backed up.  
"She went home, Seifer." Edea said, quietly. "She thinks she found a way."  
"And you _let her go_?" Seifer closed his eyes briefly, feeling as if his heart was going to pound out of his chest. He turned from them and started to walk, dejectedly, back towards Garden.  
"Seifer..." Edea caught up with him.  
"What do you want?" He asked, bitterly.  
"Seifer, I hope you can learn from this.." She began.  
"Learn from what, pray tell?" He turned on her. She stepped back, and he realized he was seeing his Matron, for the first time in his life, frightened.  
He closed his eyes, inhaled, and looked at her calmly. "Learn from what?"  
"That disagreements are part of matters of the heart." She smiled. "Seifer, you loved Amy and wouldn't let yourself..."  
"I-I didn't say I was in love." Seifer stuttered.  
"You didn't have to." Edea said, placing her hand on his arm. "It was obvious."  
"Whatever." Seifer said, dismissing her and beginning his walk back to Garden. 

"Seifer still hasn't returned." Squall said.  
"That can't be good."  
"No, Rinoa, it isn't." He sighed. "I don't know where he could have gone to."  
Rinoa frowned. "You don't think he..."  
"Committed suicide?" Squall snorted. "No, that's not really Seifer's style."  
"What, then?" Rinoa asked, concerned.  
"I wish I knew, Rin. I wish I knew." 

Amy awoke from her unconsciousness with a start. She ran to the console of her spacecraft and did a scan.  
"Unidentified aircraft, please identify."  
"This is...Lieutenant Amy Durham. Please, tell me where I am." Amy said, panic begining to surface in her voice.  
"Lieut....Amy? Amy , is it really you?" Amy recognized the voice. "Amy, oh my God, where did you come from?"  
Amy looked down at her feet, where her things from the game world were piled haphazardly.  
"I don't know, Control. I don't know. Please activate a tractor beam and bring me in; I don't think I have much drive power left." 

For three months he'd been travelling; crossing the ocean on foot wasn't exactly an easy task. He'd had to stop a few times, work a few places, save up money for boats. First he'd tried Dieling City; that had been a bust, so he'd gone to Trabia, which was also bust. Next he went back to Timber. Nothing. He crossed the bridge to Fisherman's Horizon. Nothing there, either. Finally, he wound up in Esthar.  
Of course. Why hadn't he thought of it before? The technological hub of the planet, and it was the last place he'd thought to go.  
_What an idiot._  
He had to use his credit card to get the craft; that was, he supposed, how they found him. He bought it, parked it, and stopped to sleep. He figured he'd leave in the morning.  
Instead, he woke up to a tapping on the window. He opened his eyes and looked into Squall Leonhart's stormy blue ones.  
"What do you want?" He asked, haggardly.  
"We want you to come back to Garden. Just for a few days." Squall said. He actually sounded concerned. _Did I frighten Squally-boy? Too damn bad._  
"Fuck you." Seifer spat, turning over where, he hoped, he could get some more sleep.  
"Seifer, I'm not going to leave you alone." Squall actually sounded desperate. "Just a few days, and then you can leave again and do whatever the hell it is you wanted to do."  
It took a few hours of prodding on Squall's part, during which he was severely tempted to break into the single-occupant spacecraft and cast Sleep on Seifer, just to get him to shut the hell up, but eventually Seifer conceeded. Selphie was brought from the hotel she'd been resting in, where she flew the spacecraft to the Garden.  
Seifer was taken to his dorm room and sequestered. Squall told him to catch up on his sleep. Seifer took him at his word.  
They let him sleep until he woke up on his own. 

Thirty seven hours later, Seifer woke up with a start and looked at the chrono at his bedside. He swore. This was taking too much damn _time_.  
The door was open. He dressed and walked into the hallway. His glance automatically went to the room that had been occupied by Amy three months earlier. His brow furrowed painfully and he strode towards Squall's office.  
"Nice of you to knock." Squall commented. The entire welcoming committee was there; Squall, Rinoa, Cid, Edea, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, and Zell.  
"Someone please just tell me what the fuck is going on so I can leave?"  
"Seifer, we want you to know some things before you go." Edea said calmly. "First, we have no way of knowing whether Amy made it back or not."  
Seifer nodded. "I know."  
Rinoa looked like she might cry. She leaned towards Squall. "Squall...he loves her so much he's willing to die for her."  
"I doubt it. He probably wants to go save her or something." Squall whispered back. He focused on what Edea was telling Seifer.  
"Second, we aren't sure exactly which black hole Amy was going to."  
"I know which one." Seifer said, resolutely.  
"Third, that's a world entirely different from this one. Para-magic doesn't exist. Neither do GF's. It's too far in the past."  
"I know all of these things. You don't think I didn't have time to dwell on them while I was gone?" Seifer railed. "I had plenty of time. But none of that matters right now. What matters is Amy. I have to get to her."  
Edea looked away. Seifer felt bad for snapping; she looked close to tears. "If that is what you truly wish..." She began.  
"We will help you." Squall said. He stood up, and Seifer saw something in his eyes that he'd never seen before; compassion. Squall knew where he was coming from...knew what it was to think that someone you loved was lost to you forever...and knew what one was willing to go through to get that love back.  
Seifer looked away. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning."  
"We'll be there." Squall replied, evenly. 

"Amy, why won't you talk about what happened back there?" Her friend, Kira, asked.  
"I...just don't want to. That's all." Amy finished, lamely.  
"You seem like you're just going through the motions, hon. Did something...bad...happen?"  
"I don't know yet." Amy said. She frowned. "It was wonderful...." She sighed. "I don't know, I just don't know yet."  
Kira looked at her friend sadly. "Well, we've been getting some interesting intel on that black hole you fell through. It's been getting more unstable. We think maybe a week and it'll collapse."  
"That's...interesting." Amy said. "Very interesting." 

"Ten seconds to launch."  
"Begin countdown." Seifer spoke into the mic.  
"Ten." Squall's voice said. Seifer brought nothing with him. Nothing mattered as long as he had Amy. Well, he did bring Hyperion, but he had to be able to protect her, didn't he?  
"Nine. Eight. Seven."  
Seifer closed his eyes.  
"Six. Five. Four. Three."  
_Amy...I'm coming._  
"Two. One. Prepare for liftoff."  
Seifer toggled the liftoff sequence and watched in satisfaction as the interstellar drives kicked in and the ground fell away from his craft.  
"Goodbye, ground control." He whispered into the mic.  
"So long, Bahamut. I hope you find what you're looking for." And after that, there was radio silence.  



	5. Five

"Whoa, holy shit!" A cry went up from the observation station. Amy looked up. "Amy, you'd better come look at this!"  
Amy walked towards the console. "What's up, Kira?"  
"The black hole you..you know, fell into...it's expelled something."  
"_What_?"  
"You heard me. Something small. Metallic."  
Amy felt a pounding in her throat, a rushing in her ears. "Get me a scope on that object." No one moved. "NOW, Goddamnit!"  
"Yes, Major!" People saluted; she'd been given a promotion upon return. Their careers depended on obedience. 

The object turned out to be an obviously man-made spacecraft, although it was of a design no one had seen before in this history of mankind.  
_Of course they wouldn't._ Amy thought absentmindedly. She ordered a tractor beam on it and brought it into shuttle bay two. It barely fit.  
She hurried down and pushed everyone out of her way, fighting to get to the front of the curious queue of people.  
Blonde hair, long eyelashes. Beneath those eyelashes, she knew, lay sparkling emerald green eyes.  
_Seifer..._ Amy felt a wrench in her chest, and ordered the survivor to sick bay. 

"That was really stupid, you know." Seifer opened his eyes and saw the most beautiful sight in the universe; Amy, staring down at him.  
"What, plowing headfirst into a black hole that I wasn't sure could even bring me out safely?"  
"Something like that." Amy said. She sighed.  
He stared up at her and felt something well up in him. He pushed it down. _Later._  
"Seifer..." Amy looked unbearably sad. "Why?"  
He gave her a clueless look.  
"Why did you follow me?"  
Seifer stared at her, and then burst out laughing. "Why, she asks." He settled back into his hospital bed and chuckled to himself for a few minutes. Amy, used to this sort of thing, waited patiently for him to finish.  
"You gave up everything. You'd finally made SeeD, Seifer. After Hyne knows how many tries..." She grimaced. "You gave me some bad habits, Almasy....anyway, you finally made SeeD. You excelled. And you gave it up. Why?"  
"Because I can't imagine living without you near me." Seifer sat up. "Wow, I ache."  
"Yeah, that's the downside of not having hi-potions." Amy smirked.  
"Yeah, well, this world sucks ass." He looked up. "But it's worth it, I guess."  
"You guess?"  
Seifer smiled and caught her hand in his. He focused on the hands. "Amy...I love you. You don't have to be with me, just as long as you're my friend. I can't...I don't want to live in a world that doesn't have you in it."  
"Seifer, you lived in that world for nineteen years."  
"I know, but...now that I know what I'm missing..." He trailed off.  
A moment of silence, and then he was being hugged by strong, slender, olive-toned arms; his face was buried in shiny, dark hair, normally kept up in a bun, but loose now.  
"I missed you so much." Amy murmured into his chest.  
"Then why did you leave?" Seifer asked.  
"Because I thought...that nothing could ever be the same." She held onto him tighter. "I thought I'd lose you, and you were all I had in that world."  
"Well, you're stuck with me now."  
"Thank Hyne."  
Seifer chuckled. 

"This world really does suck, you know." Seifer commented. He wasn't bitching; it was a fact. Both of them knew it.  
"I know. I'm not fond of it either." Amy said.  
She was leading his now-healed self to her quarters; she was trying to keep him from the researchers. He wouldn't know what questions to answer and what ones to claim ignorance on.  
"Don't talk to anyone other than me." She said. Seifer raised an eyebrow. "Trust me." 

It was weighing on her mind. Everything she had gone through. She itched to be at her observation post; she also yearned to be at the training center, sparring with Seifer.  
"Amy, hon, what's wrong?" Kira asked, startling her from her thoughts. Amy sighed, and made a decision.  
"Kira, come with me. I have some things I want to tell you."  
They made their way to her quarters, where Seifer was. She introduced them. "Kira, this is my friend Seifer."  
"He's the one who came through the hole."  
"Yes. I met him while I was on the other side." Amy closed her eyes. "What I'm going to tell you has to stay in this room, Kira, and you have to promise me."  
Kira looked at her friend, than at Seifer, and then back to Amy. "I promise." 

Colonel James Henderson expected nothing short of perfection, and he was used to getting it. With his second in command, the newly promoted Major Amy Durham, he got what he expected.  
"Where is Major Durham, Lieutenant Field?"  
Kira gulped compulsively. "I believe she reported in sick this morning, Captain."  
His bushy eybrows raised; nearly reaching his hairline in his shock. "Major Durham is never sick, lieutenant."  
"I'm aware of that, sir. There's a first time for everything, I suppose." She gulped again. "I offered to cover her shift at the observation post, sir."  
"As long as the post is covered, lieutenant." Colonel Henderson did not seem pleased at the blip in his perfection.  
_I only hope I'm still a lieutenant after this is all over._ Kira thought to herself. She didn't waver; she knew she would do what was required. Amy was her best friend, and Kira knew this was what she wanted. 

"Sir, a vehicle was just registered as leaving the bay."  
"Excuse me?" Colonel Henderson replied. "There are no scheduled launches today."  
Kira swore under her breath. The newest second lieutenant was ruining it.  
"Lieutenant Field, what's on your screen?"  
Kira keyed in the last bit of code. "I've got nothing, sir."  
"Pardon me?"  
"I've got nothing, sir." She repeated. "Green across the board."  
"Sir, on the viewscreen!" The nosey second lieutenant pointed.  
"That's the vehicle that was brought across the hole." The Colonel said.  
"Yes sir."  
"Open a hailing frequency, lieutenant."  
A few seconds later Amy's face popped up on the screen. Kira made a sign; all clear. The tractor beams wouldn't function.  
"Colonel." Amy said, respectfully.  
"Major, just what the hell is going on here?" Colonel Henderson barked. "I expect perfection from you; not blind disobedience and the theft of a..."  
"Actually, sir, the vehicle belongs to me." Seifer's face appeared on the screen. "And as Major Durham is driving it under my direction, it hardly constitutes theft."  
Kira bit her lip; she knew, from her brief acquaintence with Seifer Almasy, that this sort of speech rarely escaped him.  
"That vehicle was found by the United States Army Corps."  
Seifer smirked. "Well, sir, I've got the reciept. If you wanna see it."  
The screen blanked out. Colonel Henderson shook with rage. "Lieutenant Field, bring them in with a tractor beam."  
Kira went through the motions of activating the beams, and then spread her arms with helplessness. "Sir, the tractor beams have been deactivated." 


	6. Six

"Scout ships behind us, Seifer."  
"I know, I registered them already."  
"They're catching up."  
"We'll be at the event horizon before they catch us."  
"Are you sure? That hole's destabilizing. It's set to collapse really soon."  
"You never told me that."  
"I didn't want to worry you."  
"We'll see, hm?"  
"I guess so." 

"Sir, squadron A reporting from the vicinity of black hole 546-B." Kira flipped the toggle on the console, knowing it would start the double-bounce comlink up instantaneously."  
"Captain Field. So nice to hear from you." Her promotion still rankled in her mind, and being sent on this mission did as well. She wanted more than anything to say one last goodbye to Amy, but she knew that that was probably impossible.  
"Sir, we're about one day's travel from the black hole. I must remind you, sir, that Major Durham has no fear of the black hole; she's been through one before."  
"Just stop her, captain. Over and out."  
"Roger." Kira whispered. She pushed her single-occupant spacecraft to it's limits. "Let's see if I can set up a comlink with a foriegn craft." 

"Seifer...there's a hailing frequency that has been opened in our vicinity."  
Seifer looked up. "What?"  
"It's coming from one of the scouts."  
Seifer looked at Amy. Really looked. "You want to talk to them, don't you?"  
"It's my last chance, though, to see someone from my world." She looked away. "If you don't want me to, I won't."  
"Go ahead." 

Amy's face filled the screen, and Kira breathed a sigh of relief. "Amy!"  
"Kira!" Amy looked very happy to see her; closer to tears than she'd ever seen the other woman. "I'm so glad I could see you one more time."  
"My sentiments exactly. I'm in charge of this squadron. They promoted me." She gulped. "Colonel Henderson will probably find out what I did and I'll go to jail, but it's worth it to see you again."  
Amy bit her lip. "Kira..."  
"It's worth it, Amy. I'll miss you." 

Colonel Henderson's head shot up. "_What_?"  
"Sir, the foreign craft has latched onto the _Dragonfly_ with a tractor beam and seems to be dragging it along with them."  
"Stop them!"  
"I...sir, I think they just passed the event horizon." The lieutenant faltered. "They're gone, sir."  
"Damn her!" Henderson slammed his hand against the arm of the chair. "Damn them all!" He knew he could kiss the promotion to General goodbye. 

"Oh my God." Kira said, feeling the unmistakable clink of a tractor beam locking onto her craft. "Oh, my God, Amy, what are you doing?"  
"Kira, if you get arrested for helping me, what kind of life will you have?" Amy's voice came in over the com. "This hole is about to collapse. We have to go, now. There's no time for debate."  
"Amy, no!" She clutched at her armrests. "Oh, God."  
A jerk, a tug, and it was all black. 

"Sir...the black hole is gone."  
"Excuse me?"  
"Sir, the black hole has completely collapsed. The foreign craft and our scout have disappeared."  
"Damn it!" 


	7. Seven

_ I'm leaving all this crap behind  
The past is gone, the future's blind  
Don't care how long it takes this time _

Like fragments of a broken mind  
I splinter by my own design  
This search is not a waste of time 

What lies ahead  
You cannot find for me.... 

--The Offspring, "The Long Road Home" 

"Amy, wake up!" Seifer's voice.  
Amy shot up, her forehead connecting with his chin with a resounding smack. As one, they clutched their wounded spots, swearing round oaths from both worlds.  
"As I was saying...before you so rudely accosted me..."  
Amy glared at Seifer, who continued, nonplussed.  
"I can't get a reading on the console. Maybe you could help?" His eyes appealed to her. "Better at this crap than I am."  
"I can try." Amy said. "Anything visual?"  
"Main screen's malfunctioning. I think this poor boat's had one too many trips through the fabric of time and space. Probably not covered under the warrantee, either."  
Amy recognized this; pure Seifer, trying to cover up his nervousness with a facade of carelessness.  
She stood and examined the console. "It's not an internal problem. Something's been done to the outside."  
"Crap."  
"Crap is right. I'll have to do an EVA."  
Seifer stared at her. "....EVA?"  
"Extravehicular activity. Space walk."  
"I know what an EVA is, damnit." Seifer said. He stood up. "Look, Amy, I'm qualified to do EVA's. Standard Guarden testing proceedure. Let me do it."  
_How cute._ "Yes, but who's the better engineer?" Amy asked, smirking. "I'll go. Show me the suits." 

Kira woke up suddenly, aware of the pressure suit and it's clausterphobic loneliness. She tore her helmet off, gasping, and hoping to hell that there was oxygen wherever she was.  
Where _was_ she, anyway?  
In her scout craft. She began running a diagnostic; none of the local coordinates were quite what she remembered, and she had to do a thorough update of the system before she'd be able to go anywhere.  
Next, an external scan. Everything seemed fine. She began a thorough scan of her nearbye airspace and was startled to learn that a foreign, possibly enemy, craft was located in her vicinity.  
She switched the scan to visual and felt her heart beat as the events of the past twenty four hours flooded back to recall. There was the foreign ship that Amy's Seifer had brought through the black hole. Had they made it?  
Were they alive?  
She opened a hailing frequency. 

Amy had never been a fan of EVA's. Spacewalking was one of her big fears; she always felt, even though there were electromagnets in her boots, that she was about to fall off and drift into space.  
She inhaled, and then stepped out of the airlock and headed towards where she was pretty sure the problem was. She carried with her a small, military-issue duffel that had come with the ship. It contained a toolset and basic spare parts. She only hoped that one of them would fix the malfunction.  
"I'm approaching the external scanning mechanism." She said, clinically, into the mic of the pressure suite. She did this mostly to keep herself calm, but it still felt good to hear Seifer's voice.  
"Well, I'm getting a reading of you on the surface. Surface-to-interface equipment seems to be working. It's just the stuff in our immediate vicinity that we can't see."  
"That's good to know."  
"Just in case you're wondering, you're sharing the lovely surface of our ship with about five billion dust motes."  
"Good to know, Seifer. Good to know."  
She walked towards the jutting satellite dish (that was the only phrase she could think of to describe it; Seifer didn't know the actual term) and felt her heart sink. The tiny dish seemed to have broken off entirely.  
"Seifer, bad news."  
"Hm?"  
"The dish is gone."  
"Fuck."  
"My sentiments exactly."  
A pause. "Well, how about you walk up top and see what you can see?"  
"I guess that'll do. I have the handheld you gave me; it should do some good."  
"Let's find out." 

For twenty minutes, she left the hailing frequency open. Nothing.  
She was about to dispair when she looked and saw a suited figure walking jerkily along the top of the spacecraft.  
Unless she was mistaken, that was Amy. She'd never been comfortable in open space, preferring the vehicles and stations that her society created to exist in it.  
She toggled power and felt the drives respond. In ten minutes, they'd be warmed up and ready to go, and she'd be that much closer to answering some of her questions.  
Standing, she plugged in her pressure suit. She never performed an EVA with a half-charged suit. 

"Seifer....I can see it." She whispered. She sounded almost emotional. "Oh, Seifer, it's home. I can see Balamb and Esthar. And it's so pretty from up here."  
"Well, at least we know we're in the right place." Seifer said.  
"Yeah, but I don't know how we're gonna...holy shit."  
Seifer's head jerked up from his position of bored indolence, leaning against his right hand, which was propped up against the console.  
"What?" His voice was sharp.  
"I can see Kira's ship. I wonder..."  
"Don't you _dare_ sever contact with this ship, Amy. I'll suit up and come rescue your ass, and then we're both fucked."  
"I won't. But I hope she's alive." 

Amy sat there, on the top of Seifer's ship, wanting more than anything to weep. She wanted to know that her friend was alive, that she hadn't inadvertantly caused her death.  
She wanted a piece of her own world, and the chance to show this one to Kira.  
She wasn't, however, stupid enough to give into her childish whim. Tears were a right nuisance in free-fall.  
Suddenly, a flare. It seemed as though Kira's ship was being operated, or at least, coming back to life. The main drive shafts were glowing faintly, proof that they were active and charged.  
The ship slowly headed towards their vehicle, circled it twice, and then came to rest near where Amy was. Hope flared through her; she only hoped that it wasn't the automatic programming of the scout that had done that. They were programmed to come to rest at the nearest port of call in an emergency where the pilot was unconscious. Or worse.  
A door opened, and a suited figure pushed itself out. Amy's face stretched into a grin. She knew, from the grace with which the figure launched itself towards her, that it was Kira, and that she was alive.  
"Kira!" She cried, pressing the call button and waving her left arm slowly. Kira waved back.  
A few seconds of adjusting frequencies, and they found one that worked so that they could talk.  
"Our main external sensor is damaged. Well...missing." Amy said, pointing. "See?"  
"I do. I think we might have something we can jury-rig to it in the scout."  
"Oh, Kira. I'm so sorry I brought you here." Amy looked very distraught. "I'm sorry..."  
"Don't be. Hey, at least I won't get arrested for treason here." Kira grinned.  
"That's true." Amy agreed. "Oh, hang on, let me get on the wire with Seifer."  
Kira's eyes sparkled. Even after all of these centuries of radio waves and instantaneous communication, some people still used archaic phrases like "on the wire."  
"Seifer, Kira's alive, she's here with me in an EVA suit. We have to go to the scout; it's hovering about a quarter of a mile out from us at the north, north-west bearing."  
"Why do you have to go?" Seifer asked. She could hear panic in his voice.  
"We're going to look and see if there's a dish array we can jury-rig into the slot, so that we'd have sensors. We can't land if we don't have them, love."  
She froze and her face turned crimson. Over the intercom, Kira squealed. "How adorable!"  
A silence. "Do it." Seifer sounded like he was crying, or close to.  
"I'll be back."  
"You'd better, or, I swear to Hyne, I'll find you in the afterlife and haunt you."  
"You better keep that promise." Amy and Kira linked arms and as one pushed off of the surface of the ship, heading towards the tiny white scout, a beacon in the dark space. 


	8. Eight

_ I hit you and you hit me back  
We fall to the floor  
The rest of the day stands still  
A fine line between this and this  
When things go wrong  
I pretend that the past isn't real  
I'm trapped in this memory  
And I'm left in the wake of the mistake  
Slow to react  
So even though you're close to me  
You're still so distant  
And I can't bring you back _

It's true  
The way I feel  
Was promised by your face  
The sound of your voice  
Painted on my memories  
Even if you're not with me  
I'm with you  
(You, now I see, keeping everything inside)  
With you  
(You, now I see, even when I close my eyes) 

No, no matter how far we've come  
I can't wait to see tomorrow  
No matter how far we've come I  
I can't wait to see tomorrow  
With you 

--Linkin Park, "With You" 

There was radio silence. The comm from Amy's pressure suit wouldn't reach the whole quarter of a mile to his ship.  
Seifer sat, slumped, a cup of synthetic caffiene drink cooling near his elbow. He sipped it occasionally, grimacing at the bitter taste it offered, hoping, beyond hope, that Amy would make it back alright.  
Space was dangerous, especially with the moon so close by. Monsters sometimes drifted off of the lunar surface, and some didn't die of asphyxiation automatically, living until they burnt during their entry to the atmosphere, or until they decided to die. Some survived quite well in space. Almost all of them attacked on sight.  
Amy didn't know this. He wished he would have thought to send her with the small stunner that was onboard, or at least her gunblade. She had nothing but duraloy synthetic plastic tubing and fabric mesh protecting her from danger.  
_This is Amy._ He thought to himself, cynically. _She's not about to die. She's my student, for Hyne's sake. She can take anything._  
Could she? 

_That's it. I'm going out there right now and seeing what's up._ Seifer thought, standing up. Suddenly, a blip on the surface sensors. He touched the comm button. "Amy, is that you?"  
"Roger that, Seifer." Amy said. Relief flooded him. "We've got a dish and we're gonna solder it in and see if this baby's hookups are too sophisticated for my poor twenty fourth century self."  
"Poor my ass, you understand more about this rig than I do." Seifer was very happy; Amy seemed to be coming out of her shell with her friend around to encourage her.  
"Roger that, home base." Another voice. Kira. They must have found a way to let her talk to him. "This shouldn't take too long. If all else fails we'll take my busted up ship; it's crappy, it took a lot of damage in passing, and it's not exactly made for atmospheric entry, but it has external sensors."  
"I'd prefer not to."  
"I know. That's why we're gonna make this work." Kira's ebullience was almost catching; Seifer thought she'd get along well with Selphie.  
"You'd better make it work." 

Amy's face blossomed onto the viewscreen.  
"I've got visual, Amy. And you have a pimple on your chin."  
"Go to hell." Amy said. She moved and he heard them. "We're coming in." 

"The external shield was damaged by the gravity well of the black hole; at least, that's the best idea I can come up with." Amy explained. "It should hold through the passage through the atmosphere."  
"Should?"  
"I can't make any guarentees, Seifer."  
Seifer sighed. "Well, it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, right?"  
Amy looked at him oddly. "That's an old phrase."  
Seifer grinned. "Yep. Now let's get this show on the road."  
Kira threw her hands up. "There he goes again! What's with the archaic anachronisms?" 

"Well, there's simply a shortage of SeeD's willing to become Instructors, Squall." Quistis said, planting her hands on her hips firmly. "There's nothing we can do about that."  
Squall sighed and rubbed his temples. "If only Amy and Seifer..."  
"They aren't here, Squall. They've been gone for over six months. Stop it with the 'if only's." Quistis reprimanded him. "No wonder Rinoa's getting pissed with you."  
Squall sighed.  
"President Loire will be coming to Garden today. You'd better straighten up. A president, Squall! Thinking of giving Garden money!" she grinned. "We could offer better wages for Instructors and then we wouldn't have a problem."  
Squall fidgeted; he knew that Laguna would give him money if he asked for it. He didn't really want to. He hadn't needed his father his entire life; why should he start now?  
Then again, Quistis didn't know that. And she never would, if things went his way.  
Two hours later, he stood in his official SeeD uniform, next to Quistis and Xu, also wearing their uniforms. They welcomed Laguna Loire and his aids, Ward and Kiros, formally. Laguna accepted the formality at face value, making no references to the ties that bound him and his son. He did, however, trip on the way up the stairs to Garden, so it was a little hard to continue on with pomp and circumstance.  
They had just sat down with Cid and Edea for a late lunch when Nida burst in through the door. "Squall, sir, you should definitely check this out. We're getting something really weird on the scopes."  
"What?" Squall asked, intelligently.  
"We're picking up an incoming vessel." 


	9. Nine

"Amy, I've lost control of the ship." Kira's voice came through her pressure suit, calmly.  
They had all decided to wear pressure suits, just to be safe.  
"Really."  
"Not a one."  
"Well. Let's see what I can do about that." Seifer said, conversationally. He did a few things on his console. "Yeah, she's right, nav is down. We're going to crash land."  
Amy gulped. "Where?"  
"I'll find out." He poked a few buttons. "The computer is projecting us to land in the inland sea at Esthar in approximately 25 minutes."  
"I hope it's right."  
"We all do." Kira said, softly. 

Laguna Loire had come to Balamb in one of the Ragnorak's sister ships. So excited about seeing what was going on, he ushered everyone into the ship without a second thought and programmed the autopilot to take them to approximately one kilometer out from the 'scope's projected landing point.  
On the way out there Squall stood with his hands in his pockets, uncomfortable. He wished Rinoa were there; she'd left for Dieling City two weeks ago. She claimed she just wanted to get to know her father better, but he knew; she wanted time away from him. Leadership was making him sullen all over again.  
"Hey." Laguna said. Squall was struck with how many habits he and his father who wasn't a father (for a real father would have come and rescued him from the orphanage) had in common; for instance, right now Laguna also looked uncomfortable in his dress uniform, and had his hands in his pockets. If his hands _didn't_ happen to be in his pockets at any given time, they were shoved under his crossed arms.  
"Who do you think it is?" Laguna asked, idly.  
"I don't know." Squall replied.  
"I heard it could be your friend, Seifer."  
"He's not my friend." Squall replied, automatically. Then he realized that he sounded like a two year old. "He's a work acquaintence."  
Laguna didn't say anything.  
"Why didn't you ever come?" Squall found himself blurting out. "Why didn't you ever come to see me?"  
Laguna looked horrified. "What?"  
"At the orphanage. Why didn't you ever come? Why didn't you ever take me away from there?"  
Laguna was abashed. "I didn't _know_, Squall." He scratched his head, sheepishly. "The people at Winhill weren't exactly cooperative with me. I didn't realize it until I first met you."  
Squall felt himself trembling; it wasn't something wrong with him. He hadn't been unwanted. It was just ignorance.  
"What clued you in?" He whispered the question.  
Laguna chuckled. "Kiros thinks you look like your mother, but...well, there's a family resemblance." He smirked. "You look just like _my_ dad."  
"Great." Squall said. "Just great."  
"I wish I'd known." Laguna said. He rolled his eyes. "Being President is boring; having a kid around would have made it loads more fun."  
"Being a leader isn't about having fun. It's about being responsible."  
Laguna's eyes turned towads him, and it seemed to him that those eyes were laughing at him. "Is it really?" He seemed highly amused. "Squall...son...if you can't have fun with what you're doing, why bother?"  
Laguna left his son whistling a tune. Squall recognized it; it was the song Rinoa's mother had written for him, "Eyes On Me." Squall would have brooded on his father's advice, but at that point the computer bleeped and announced that they had arrived at their destination. 

They recognized the ship. It was, indeed, the small craft Seifer had taken to the black hole. There was no external response; everyone wondered if they would open it to find Seifer's corpse.  
"Well...nothing we can do but look." Squall muttered, keying in the emergency airlock override, once Laguna's ship had towed it to ground level.  
The airlock irised open, and Squall stepped inside, followed closely by Laguna and Edea. The air smelled burned, charred, almost dead.  
Edea's hands went to her mouth, but she didn't let herself cry yet. She didn't know what was charred, after all.  
The small group moved from chamber to chamber of the spacecraft. Finally, they stood outside the bridge level.  
"We'd better go in, then, huh?" Laguna commented boredly. He pushed a few random buttons and the door opened. "Hey-hey." 

Seifer...  
Had never been so happy to see Squally-boy in his life.  
"Holy shit, we made it." He said, his face splitting into a wide grin.  
"We did." Amy acknowledged.  
"We rock!" Kira said, doing a small dance.  
"Cadet Durham, would you care to enlighten us as to just what the hell is going on?" Squall asked, politely.  
Amy laughed. "Gladly, commander. Gladly. As soon as we get out of this hunk of junk and back to Garden." 

"Amy..." Kira said, softly, later that night. Amy's room had been reassigned to her, and Kira was sleeping there on the couch until space could be found.  
"What's up, Kira?" She asked. She walked into the living room and saw Kira plotting a program on the computer.  
"You told me that you think this is our future; the future of humankind." Kira shook her head, blond curls scattering everywhere. "I don't think that's the case."  
Amy frowned. "Excuse me?"  
"I really don't. I took the data from the probes that you sent off before you left the first time, compared it to the data I recorded in my scout, and ran it through a program." She pointed. "Amy, this isn't the future. It's the _past_." 


	10. Ten

_Three months later_

"The people of Centra were, we believe, a space-going race." Amy's cool voice wasn't remotely offset by the PA system she was using. She addressed some of the most important people on the planet; Cid and Edea Kramer, President Loire, the headmasters of Trabia and Galbadia Gardens, the newly elected president of Timber, and of course, Squall Leonhart and his friends who had helped save the world from Ultimecia.  
"Extremely intelligent and long-lived, they came to this planet, Gaia, and settled it. They left their mark; many of the travelers thought of this place as home, and decided to stay. They were our ancestors."  
Everyone in this room was aware of the situations that had brought her and Kira to live here. "Where I come from, it is believed that human beings descended from apes, monkeys, because they have similar DNA. Well, we've discovered, through our research, that the people of my time are completely wrong." She smiled. "Ultimecia messed with the very fabric of time and space; through a black hole that exists now, up until my time, there is a portal. A portal between the two times. It has collapsed on my end; I don't know what you would experience if you went through it now."  
"Excuse me, Instructor Durham, if I may." The Headmaster of Trabia Garden interrupted. "How did you come to these conclusions?"  
"Well, sir." She nodded in his direction. "My collegues Seifer Almasy and Kira Field had both experienced the time warp, as I had. We compared notes and realized that things were not all that they seemed. We got permission from the Headmaster of Balamb Garden and took an educational trip to the Centra Ruins located near the center of the Centra Continent." She smiled again. "What we found was amazing; the technology we have in this time period is nothing compared to what they had."  
"What does that mean?" Edea asked.  
"We found a tomb; I'm sure everyone has heard of the legend of Hyne, who supposedly passed some of his powers onto the ones who are now sorceresses." Amy's eyes politely indicated Rinoa, sitting next to Squall.  
Squall had abandoned the Commander position after his discussion with Laguna. He gave it to Amy. While she was the Commander, she preferred to be an instructor, and had gotten her Instructor's certification two months ago, just before they left for the Centra trip. With the loss of heavy responsibility, he became the old him, and Rinoa returned.  
Amy dealt with the responsibility better than he did; she was used to it, and hired plenty of people to help with the paperwork so she wouldn't burn out.  
"The tomb we found contained the body of the Centra known as Hyne. Perfectly preserved for all time. He was the last real Centra on the planet; he had powers that the land-bound settlers didn't have. When he found a way to preserve some of those powers, by passing them on to a Sorceress, he gave his life to do just that." She paused. "For some reason, the recreative power of his act made it so that only females can recieve the powers. No male will ever be a sorceress."  
There was some disquiet over that.  
"There's more." Her voice commanded their attention again. "This time period is well over three hundred thousand years in my past. At some point within the next hundred thousand years, there will be a cataclysmic event that will push all of our decendants into the stone age." She sighed. "The evedance I found suggests that the ones who realized what was going to happen simply packed up, caught a spaceship, and left."  
Kira stood up as Amy gestured her onto the platform. "I took a trip, using the Ragnorak, up to my abandoned scout ship from our time. We retrieved all data from the ship, stripping it of it's hard drives and other storage mediums. We had to research carefully, reading between the lines at what historical data was contained on it. Luckily, every ship in use during our time is equipped with a complete and comprehensive history of the planet earth." She grinned. "I think the higher-ups were trying to encourage studying among the enlisted. However, reading through the data we retrieved, we were able to make a few connections." A diagram popped up on the screen. "This was found in the area known as Egypt about two hundred years before my time. Does anyone recognize this?"  
"That's a satphone battery!" Zell exclaimed.  
Kira grinned. "Exactly. It was carbon dated to have been created about three to four hundred thousand years before the present at that time. Scientists ran tests again, thinking that it must have been a mistake, but the tests were conclusive."  
"That wasn't the only evidance." Amy said, stepping forward again. "There were other things; for instance, the Esthar sorceress' memorial eventually expanded to become the Pyramids at Giza."  
"Humankind, with the technology they had avaliable to them at the time, couldn't possibly have actually built the pyramids." Kira continued. "We hypothosize that they were already there and the Egyptians simply adapted them to their use."  
"So in one hundred thousand years, what will happen?" Cid Kramer asked.  
"The beginning of an ice age." Amy said. She smiled. "It is quite cataclysmic; it will erase over ninety percent of the technology that exists today, leaving only the wheel and a few other rudimentary tools. Hyne will be reduced to myth."  
"What's an ice age?" Laguna asked. Kira giggled and batted her eyes. Amy rolled hers; Kira had a bit of a crush on the middle-aged president. That wasn't so bad; Kira was in her mid thirties.  
"An ice age is a complete lowering of global temperature, President Loire." Amy said. "The polar ice cap will begin at Trabia and a new one will grow on the southern half of the globe. Thirty three percent of the earth's surface will be covered with ice sheets over three miles thick."  
"Sounds cold."  
"Hence the name ice age." Amy grinned at him. "The only good thing I can find about all of this is that the ice age also kills all of the monsters; even snow lions."  
"In our time, the monsters were known as dinosaurs, and everyone got everything wrong about them." Kira said. "And because of the way their bones are made, the carbon dating on them was all wrong; they were hypothosized to have been around millions of years before this. Some of them were. This was their planet before the Centra came. But not all of them."  
"What about the monsters on the moon?" Rinoa asked.  
"Well, the only hypothesis we can come up with is that the meteor crash that will cause the ice age had a sister that crashed into the moon." Amy explained. "There is a rather large crater on the lunar surface in my day, one that extends to a depth that indicates a large meteor, that isn't there today."  
"This is quite interesting, Instructor Durham." Edea said, formally. "But what does it mean?"  
"It means that we have to keep the legend alive for a hundred thousand years." Amy said, solomnly. "We have to make sure that our descendants are ready to go when the time comes. We absolutely must make sure of that; because eventually the ones who leave will meet up with humanity again. A hundred years before I was born, first contact was made with beings that were virtually identical to us in DNA structure. They were our descendants, and they had found a place to live." She closed her eyes. "The survival of humanity depends on keeping this alive." 

"I'm going out!" Kira's voice said.  
"Where?" Amy said, automatically, running yet another program on her computer terminal.  
"Laguna and I are going out to celebrate the success of the symposium." Kira said, offhand.  
"Laguna, eh?" Amy turned completely away from her terminal and smiled knowingly at her friend.  
"You know, Amy, you should come too." She clicked her tongue at her friend. "You and Seifer don't even act like..."  
"We aren't." Amy said, automatically.  
"Oh, come on, it'll be fun!" Kira said. Amy sighed, and put her hand to her forehead. How a woman almost fifteen years her senior could have that much energy was beyond her. 

"Did Kira put you up to this?" Seifer asked, whispering to her. Squall, Rinoa, Laguna, Kira, Seifer, and Amy all sat around a table at some sort of restaurant.  
"Pretty much." Amy replied, sighing.  
Idle chat and Laguna dumping various drinks all over himself filled a good portion of the evening. He seemed to honestly like Kira, and Amy knew she could trust her friend in the hands of this gentle, sweet, somewhat klutzy president.  
"Squall seems to be in a much better mood around Laguna nowadays." Amy said.  
"What do you mean?" Seifer asked. Amy blinked.  
"You mean, you don't know?"  
"Don't know what?"  
Squall overheard. "How did _you_ know, Amy?"  
Amy was abashed. "I...it just seemed obvious to me."  
Squall allowed a rare smile to grace his face. "It's alright, I don't mind."  
Laguna grinned. "Hey-hey! That's my boy!" A thump. "Damnit, that was the third Coke tonight!"  
"What do you mean, Amy?" Seifer asked, his face paling.  
"Laguna's my father." Squall said. He crossed his arms and stared at Seifer, daring him to make something out of it.  
"Really?" Kira asked, batting her eyelashes at Laguna. "I didn't know you had a son!"  
"Neither did I, until we found him trying to save the planet." Laguna said, laughing. "Scared the daylights out of me." 

Kira had left with Laguna. Amy sighed as she dropped her bag on the floor near the door to her room. It had been a stressful night. Ever since they'd gotten back things had been all work and no play, and this seemed like more of the same.  
At least Kira was having fun. Then again, she always had fun. Seifer had mentioned when they first got back that he thought she'd get along with Selphie well, and...well, he was right. The two of them shared the same never-ending energy that left other people gasping for breath.  
still, she was her friend. And she was happy; Laguna and Kira seemed to genuinely like each other. She couldn't ask for a better pairing, really.  
That just brought her back to her own convoluted love life...if she could even call it that. Since they'd touched ground on ancient Gaia Seifer and her hadn't had any time to be anything...hell, she didn't know if they were ever going to do anything even remotely like a couple. Like go on a fucking date.  
She sighed. _I don't want to think about this right now._ Instead she pulled on pajamas and flipped on her telescreen. Right now an older movie was playing, one that Laguna had starred in. She found herself interested and watched it all the way through.  
In the end, the Sorceress died. Her knight, portrayed by Laguna, also died; out of the pain of knowing that the one he'd dedicated his life to was no longer in existance. The bond between a sorceress and her knight was supposed to be deeper than those of marriage.  
"It's not really like that, you know." Seifer's baritone voice said, quietly, from behind her. Amy was startled, and she didn't turn around.  
Briefly, her mind flitted to the first time she'd ever heard his voice; on the cool hospital bed in the infirmary. He'd told Squall and Zell that he didn't think she was a sorceress.  
"How'd you get in?" She asked, without removing her eyes from the rolling credits. She smirked to herself that "Laguna Loire" was listed. She knew that person. Little old Amy Durham, from a desolate little bumblefuck town in Nevada knew famous people, and had just had a rather nice supper with three of them.  
She wondered if her parents could see her, or if that just wasn't the way heaven worked.  
"I know a lot of tricks." Seifer said.  
"I'll bet."  
"It's really not like that." Seifer came around and sat down on the couch next to her. "At least, it wasn't for me. Knights don't join with a sorceress because they love her; they join with her because they want power."  
"You wanted power."  
A smile. "I was a stupid little boy. Edea was right."  
"We all make mistakes."  
Seifer looked down with a half-smile on his face. "Mine was pretty big."  
"Oh, Seifer, don't tell me that two and a half years later you're still pissed off that you went off with Edea." Amy rolled her eyes. "What's the past is just that--the past. You can't change it, and mulling over it won't change your feelings. Accept it and move on."  
"If it were that simple, love, I would." Amy's heart skipped a beat; he'd never used an endearment like that with her before.  
"I don't see why it can't be." Amy smiled and turned to him. "No one holds it against you. I mean, come on. You had supper with some of the most powerful people on the planet tonight. They didn't hold anything against you."  
"A point." Seifer shrugged. "I'll get over it eventually."  
"I certainly hope so." Amy said. She felt Seifer's arm snake around her shoulders and smiled.  
"Where's Kira?"  
"Out with Laguna." Her smile broadened. "They're so cute."  
Seifer chuckled. "You know, it was that movie that Laguna was in..." He laughed again, softly. "I idolized him for a really long time."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah. Kinda weird meeting him all of these years later. He's a goof."  
"Perfect for Kira."  
"Absolutely." He paused. "Just like you're perfect for me."  
Amy turned to him slyly. "Are you absolutely sure of that?"  
"As sure of anything as I can be." Seifer looked down at her. "The past three months have really sucked, haven't they?"  
"Pretty much." Amy said. She yawned. "I think I'm going to go to bed, Seifer. I'm exhausted."  
"Mind if I crash over here?"  
Amy's heart sped up. "Sure thing." She said, standing up. She stopped and looked down at Seifer, mentally wishing she'd paid more attention to the way females seduced men. "I'm going."  
"Okay."  
She sighed and crossed her arms. "Seifer, are you coming with me or not?"  
Seifer grinned and stood up. "That's the woman I fell in love with." He said, drawing her close to him and kissing her lightly on the lips.  
"Does that mean you'll join me?"  
"Of course, you dolt."  
"Tomorrow...do you work?"  
"No. You?"  
"No." Amy smiled. "We should go to the training center and kill us some rexaurs."  
Seifer laughed. "Sure thing, love. Sure thing." 


	11. Epilogue

"Commander Durham!" A Esthar Army regular ran up and saluted her. "Ma'am, it's such an honor..."  
"Whoa, relax." Amy said, stretching her arms out over her gravid body. "What's going on?"  
"Nothing, ma'am, it's just that I've heard so much about you...anyway, everyone's waiting downstairs."  
The soldier led her, Seifer, and Selphie downstairs. Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, Zell, Nona, Cid, and a few others were already there to be seated in the family section. They were all of the family that was needed, at least, that anyone thought.  
There were hundreds of other people there, of course. It isn't every day that the President of Esthar gets married. It was even being broadcast, much to Kira's delight, and Laguna's dismay.  
They were ushered into their seats quickly. Laguna was standing at the front, near the alter, and he looked unbearably nervous. Seifer leaned over to his girlfriend.  
"Ten gil says Laguna trips at least once."  
Amy eyed him. "You're on. Kira's been coaching him."  
"Raise you to twenty."  
"Sure thing."  
The music queued and a boy and girl walked down the aisle. They were underclassmen from Balamb Garden, favorite's of Laguna's (He visited his son, his daughter-in-law, and his friends Seifer, Amy, and especially Kira, quite often, and had gotten to know a lot of the children). The girl would occasionally toss out of the basket she was carrying a handful of white flower petals. The boy carried a pillow with two simple rings on them.  
Ward was near Laguna, as best man. He eyed the doorway as Kiros stepped out with Kira. For some reason, Kira thought it was appropriate that Kiros give her away, considering the fact that her father had been dead for some years in her own time, and didn't even exist yet in this one.  
Kiros didn't get it, but he didn't mind playing a role in one of his friend's weddings. Now, if only Ward would find a chick and settle down. Even he had a wife.  
Laguna gulped compulsively and watched Kira walk down the aisle. When she finally reached the alter, he did a quick sidestep--not tripping over anything and actually being quite deft--and came to rest next to her. The couple stared at each other for a second, until the Daughter of Hyne coughed lightly to get their attention.  
The ceremony was the same, but the words were all different, Amy noticed. The Daughter, this time represented by Edea Kramer, a woman once gifted by the powers of Hyne, spoke of never-ending love, peace, and harmony in the relationship, asking each in turn if they would promise to protect each other from disease, sickness, hunger, and attack; asked them if they agreed to be bound forever.  
"Until the end of time." Laguna whispered, staring at Kira. Then he gulped, blushed, and turned back to Edea, apologetically. "Uh...yes."  
Kira giggled. "Yes." She said.  
"Husband and wife." Edea said, taking them by the shoulders and pushing them together. They held out their hands--Kira's right and Laguna's left--and she tied a simple piece of cord around them. "This cord represents your marriage; together bound until the end of time, you will have to learn to function with each other. It can never be severed. The day you sever this knot is the day that your marriage, in the eyes of society and Hyne, ends." She smiled. "Until the end of history, you are bound, man and woman, husband and wife." She grinned almost wickedly at Laguna. "You can kiss your bride."  
If the kiss was a little too eager, people politely refrained from mentioning it. At least, most of them did.  
"Whoo hoo!" Selphie said, jumping out of her seat. "You go, Sir Laguna!"  
Rinoa looked at Squall, who was staring at the two adults impassively. Wait...just a moment...  
"Squall, are you crying?" She asked, looking at the tiny wells of moisture in the corner's of his eyes.  
"No." Squall said. "Leave me alone, Rinoa." 

"Cute stuff." Seifer said, throwing the lights in their accomodations on. They'd been given rooms in the Presidential Palace until they would leave. Amy had a few minor things to take care of in Esthar, but they were planning in leaving within the next few days.  
"It was. Different from the marriage ceremonies in my day." Amy said, grinning. "Hyne is a much kinder diety."  
"I'll bet. I've been reading some of that 'Bible' you pointed out. Scary shit."  
Amy leaned around her belly and kissed her boyfriend. "Seifer...I just want this damn kid to get out." She whispered, seductively, winking at the end to let him know it was a joke. "It gets in the way constantly, especially when I want to kiss you."  
Seifer grinned, a hint of his smartass self coming back. "It's gonna get in the way of a lot more things once it's out, you know."  
Amy groaned. "Don't remind me!"  
"Sleep...regular eating...research...cleanliness...oh, lord, _sex_..."  
"Seifer!" Amy thumped him hard on the arm. "Pervert!"  
"That's what got you into this state, my dear." Seifer gave her a thumbs up and a wicked glance before heading into the bathroom.  
She rolled her eyes.  
"Amy...hey, come here, will ya?" Seifer grunted. She sighed and followed him towards the bathroom. She really wished, more than anything, that they could be in their couple's quarter's back at Balamb. That was home. This was a hotel, nothing more.  
"I got something for you the other day in Balamb." He said, offhandedly. He tossed her something. A small box.  
She looked at him quizically, and then opened it. It was a jewelry box; the kind rings come in.  
She opened the jewelry box and gasped.  
It was done in silver, with a black diamond (her favorite stone) set in the center. A small sapphire, a tiny ruby, a miniscule smokey yellow amber, and a little diamond were set around it, at equal parts.  
"They represent the elements." Seifer said, sliding it onto her ring finger. He held her close. "Diamond is earth, ruby is fire, amber is wind, and sapphire is water."  
"Black diamond?"  
"The most important part; Spirit and heart." Seifer kissed her. "What do you say, Amy? Wanna imitate Squall and Rinoa? Laguna and Kira?"  
Her mouth was hanging open as she stared into his emerald eyes.  
"Well?" Seifer said, beginning to get nervous.  
"What did you _think_ I would say, you overgrown moron?" Amy retorted, kissing him fully. "Of course."  
"I knew it."  
"Of course you did."  
"Amy, do you know what you're going to name our son?"  
Amy grinned. "It's a girl, Seifer, sorry to disappoint you."  
"Nuh uh!"  
"I really do think so." Amy smiled. "And..." She looked outside. "I wanted to name her Edea."  
Seifer looked at her in amazement, and then a grin slowly reached his eyes. "I think that's wonderful."  
"A tribute."  
"To the only mother I ever knew." Seifer whispered. He kissed her to seal the deal. Only when they parted did she sigh frustratedly.  
"What?" He asked. He was a little confused.  
"Do you know how difficult it is going to be to get leave for a honeymoon? Do you?" 


End file.
